Visualizing your BIM data with real-time design

Today we announced a major collaboration with Autodesk, the leader in 3D design across multiple industries. We’re working closely with Autodesk to bring Revit data into Unity, enabling data to flow from the world’s most advanced building information modeler into the most advanced design visualization solution for real-time experiences. The ultimate goal – eliminate design friction and streamline workflows allowing you to unlock cost savings, increase efficiencies and have better collaboration across teams.

Look closer, that’s the power of real-time 3D

Within design visualization, we are showcasing the unbelievably realistic capabilities of our upcoming HDRP through a virtual walkthrough of our newly opened London office, designed and built by M Moser Associates and created by VR agency Oneiros. This is an effective proof point that you’ll be able to get to better designs, faster. All with a beautiful, photorealistic concept that enables creators to test out, configure, and make decisions in real-time throughout the design approval process. This fully immersive, interactive 3D environment stuns prospects and clients alike, and the net result – increases in bids won.

﻿

No more lost data or weeks of remodeling

Not only is the design visualization stunning, but we’re taking it a step further. Revit is the standard design tool for architectural design, structural engineering, and construction – components that make up for the design of a building. However, moving 3D and BIM data from Revit into an interactive real-time environment has been challenging.

But today, whether you use our third party partner PiXYZ or the natively supported version in 2019, a direct to Unity workflow is at your fingertips. This includes transference of all BIM data, optimization of 3D geometry for smooth playback in Unity, and the automatic generation of UVs for textures and materials.

Better designs = Better buildings

When designing, building, and operating, the construction phase is complex with an unending list of stakeholders and an audience that goes far beyond the people who will actually contribute to the project. This process must be highly collaborative, but getting everyone on the same page can be an incredibly difficult task. And the price to pay, well that’s something that is impacting the entire industry, a $450 billion a year problem. That’s the price of inefficiency – the rework caused by fractured workflows.

That’s where interactive real-time 3D comes to the rescue. Your designs can now be brought into an interactive, collaborative environment, in real-time, that can be experienced by anyone, no matter their job role or skill level. For example, accelerate decisions by showing clients numerous iterations that they can review from anywhere in the world with technologies such as XR, so that they can feel confident that they are getting exactly the building that they want. Catch mistakes or poor design flaws before getting into the field. Design approval will no longer be limited to those who can read a drawing or can review a model in Revit. Now, the people who will actually be using the built environment will be able to review it immersively before the first stake goes into the ground or a yard of concrete is poured. Imagine, entire buildings can be imported and all of the critical BIM data will be at your fingertips so that users can display what they want, how they want it and when they need it. All in real time.

﻿

Getting started

Today you can import BIM data, develop interactive, real-time experiences, and publish to multiple platforms with PiXYZ tools in the AEC Bundle. We expect to provide a fully featured solution to convert Revit into Unity in the Fall of 2019.

This native, direct interoperability we are building between Revit and Unity will make the workflow even faster and more seamless. So, whether you’re allowing clients to experience an environment in VR before it exists, training without being constrained by physical boundaries, collaborating for design approval among a diverse set of stakeholders, or iterating across teams before the concrete is poured, you can now reach new heights with Unity.

8 Comments

A very welcome improvement I think. A lot of architects and construction companies are currently looking for ways of benefiting from their BIM models for client engagement purposes. Not only for those one or two high-profile rooms for which they have to invest a lot of resources to get a realistic rendering, but for every corner of they building. A smooth transition of Revit models into such an easy to use and accessible tool as unity helps a lot.

My previous experience with this workflow learned me that I’m interested in the following things:
– With unity, I want to build a VR-experience that supports client decision making with regard to wall and floor finishes. Having the right right prefabs in place that enables the user to pick a finish off a palette and beam it onto a surface would be of great use. Especially when it is combined with an easy to follow tutorial on how to build such a unity application.
– One of the most essential animations that is needed to create a dynamic VR experience instead of a static one, is the opening and closing of doors. It would be really helpfull if the Unity import of revit projects handles doors well. The firm I work for uses shared nested revit families where to door is a nested family inside the door frame family. being able (through an import setting maybe) to choose whether you want to import nested revit families into unity as a seperate objects with a parent child relation in unity would be really useful and desired, for the purpose of creating realistic animations.

Hello,
It’s great to read the article where two companies are open to develop an interoperability tool.
Two years back, we were hired to develop animation of a building project and that was more of a construction simulation for prefabricated installations or PPVC blocks in Singapore with camera controls and then we baked that simulation in an app and on webpage.
Combining Autodesk Revit with Unity workflow will be a great option.
For any BIM related query, feel free to connect on greg@wdistudios.com

Good to see these developments. At the moment I go through the process of Revit->3dsmax->Unity
Besides the issues with materials and UV mapping there are other things I need to do to get it working as desired.
-Replace same Revit family types (Revit Instances) with a single object (prefab).
-Make sure that each Revit instance translates to a single object. Because I need also be able to manipulate all the objects (e.g. materials, moving).
-Build it so that non-unity users can use it on their own computer (or ways to easily host it in the cloud).

It should not rely on too expensive add-ons. As it is not our core business spending yearly thousands of dollars on licenses will be no option

Hello,
we are currently working on a import / export solution within Unity based on a open source library named xBim.
When I read your article (with your super catchy title !) multiple question appeared in my mind :
– Will it be possible to import directly at runtime ?
– Will we need at Revit licence or will it be native ? (I think we need but I try)
– I will probably have others questions or ideas… But I will write them when they will come in my mind.

Too bad Autodesk had to get their grimey hands in everything. Such a solution might eventually win out, but Enscape and Fuzor have been doing this for a while. If you can actually make the bidirectional sync work and incorporate the other necessities, like notes and design options, that’s great. But please also make a way to explode geometry or make documentation (aka specs and CDs) more accessible, require less text, and incorporate construction process visualization. Maybe even relative construction docs as 3d art, exporting schedules, material takeoffs and structural members in a lot style, with quantity and measurements in 3D axon.

Hi, I’m an architect very interested in finding new workflows for BIM industry, this announcement is what a was waiting for too long, I’m so excited. I’m developing an app for BIM to VR but in a multiplayer way. I would like to know if it will be possible to import Revit models from the cloud into unity at runtime to interact with them. Thank you and regards